BackgroundTo reduce morbidity and mortality, awareness regarding diabetes and its complications is necessary. This study aimed at assessing the level of knowledge, attitude, and practices (KAP) regarding complications of diabetes mellitus among patients with type 2 diabetes in Dhaka, Bangladesh.MethodsA cross-sectional study was carried out recruiting patients with diabetes from the outpatient department of BIRDEM hospital in Dhaka. Overall, 425 patients with diabetes were enrolled in this study. A pretested questionnaire was filled by the interviewer with face to face interview. Levels of KAP were determined by calculating the scores. Multivarable linear regression was used to determine significant predictors for knowledge, attitude, and practices.ResultsOn average, the level of knowledge, attitude, and practices were 9.2 (out of 14), 7.9 (out of 13), and 16.9 (out of 27), respectively. Age and gender were significant predictors of knowledge and attitude. Females had better level of knowledge and attitude compared to males (βs = 0.55 and 1.24, respectively). Patients with graduate degrees and above compared to illiterates reported significantly greater knowledge and practice (βs = 1.27 and 1.44, respectively), after adjustments for covariates. Educational program was the most important significant predictor of KAP. Higher duration of diabetes (β = 0.07) and positive marital status (β = 1.21) had influenced better practice.ConclusionsLack of knowledge, poor attitude, and inadequate practice were found in this surveyed communinty. Level of education and educational program on diabetes were the most significant contributing factors. The current study suggests the need of structured educational programs on diabetes and its complications on a regular basis to assist patients in living a productive life.

Maintaining proper hygiene during menstruation prevents certain reproductive illnesses. For female athletes, they need to put an extra effort to keep themselves healthy at this time because of their daily strenuous activities. In this study, we assessed the level of knowledge, attitude and practices about menstrual hygiene management among adolescent trainee athletes. A cross-sectional study was carried out among adolescent trainee athletes from BKSP. Samples were chosen conveniently from different sports departments. In total, 143 Female athletes who regularly menstruate were included. A semi-structured questionnaire was used to determine the level of knowledge, attitude and practices and their associated factors. One-way analysis of variance (ANOVA) was used to compare means of outcome variables. The mean ± SD age of our participant was 14.31 ± 1.48. Majority of the participants were scared during their first menstruation (39.9%). Mothers were the main source of information (84.6%). Majority of the participants had poor knowledge (56.6%) and practices (68.5%) while the level of attitude was good (67.1) regarding menstruation. Age-group was associated with knowledge score (p=0.034) regarding menstruation while family income was associated with attitude (p=0.014). Educational level of father was associated with both knowledge (p=0.049) and attitude (p=0.010). Poor level of knowledge and practices were observed among the survey respondents, though the level of attitude was satisfactory. Mothers were the primary source of information regarding menstrual hygiene. It is important to provide menstrual hygiene education to the young athletes from a reliable and formal source. Asian J. Med. Biol. Res. June 2019, 5(2): 126-137

Despite having number of health benefits, yoga also has a proven role in enhancing performance of athletes boosting specific components of fitness. Our aim was to study the effect of yoga on flexibility and balance among shooting trainee athletes at BKSP, Bangladesh. A quasi-experimental study was conducted among shooting trainee athletes. In total 20 athletes took part in this study. In each group we had 10 participants (10 in yoga group and other 10 in non-yoga group). Regular yoga session have been conducted early morning biweekly over a period of six weeks. All the participants were allowed to take part in regular training session, while only yoga group took part in additional yoga session. Measurements of flexibility and balance including Sit and Reach (SR) test and Stork Stand (SR) test were taken immediately before and after the yoga training period. Independent t-test and paired t-test were used to determine the significant effect of yoga within and between the groups before and after yoga training. Sixty percent of our participants were male. Participant's age were between 12-17 years. All of them had normal level of BMI. Significant improvement were observed in the yoga group for flexibility (SR, P=0.017) and balance (SS, P=0.004) during within group comparison. No significant improvement were seen for flexibility and balance in the non-yoga group. Between group comparison (Yoga and Non-yoga) also shows significant enhancement in both flexibility (SR, P=0.018) and balance (SS, P=0.021).Our findings helped us to conclude that regular yoga training may improve the balance and flexibility of shooting athletes even within short period of time (6 weeks), can also improve the athletic performances that demands high flexibility and balance.

Background Nutrition is an important predictor of an athlete’s performance. It is more important for particularly those athletes who are in the growing stage (adolescents). This study aimed to assess their current level of knowledge, attitude, and practices (KAP) of nutrition and to predict potential factor impact on the level of these KAP. Methods A cross-sectional study was conducted among adolescent trainee athletes selected conveniently from 11 sports departments (e.g. cricket, football, hockey etc.) of Bangladesh Krira Shikkha Protishtan (BKSP). A semi-structured interviewer-administered questionnaire was used for data collection. Anthropometric measurements (e.g. height, weight, BMI, BF %) were taken using appropriate methods. The data were analyzed using R (v3.6.1) and Python Jupyter Notebook. Descriptive statistics, t-test, analysis of variance (ANOVA) and logistic regression were used to determine the relationship between dependent and independent variables. Results A total number of 260 participants were enrolled in this study. Among them, 86% were male. Their mean age was 15.50 ± 1.83 ranging from 12–19 years. More than half of the participants had good nutrition knowledge (n = 149, 57.3%). Fifty-six percent participants had negative attitude (n = 146) and 42.3% (n = 110) had poor level of practices regarding nutrition. Age (p = 0.007), gender (p = 0.004) and duration of sports training (p = 0.004) of participants were significantly associated with knowledge, while only age and BMI were significantly associated with practices. Athletes with less body fat were more likely to have good nutrition practice behavior (AOR 0.895; 95% CI 0.83, 0.96; p < 0.05) and nutrition knowledge was positively associated with nutrition practice (AOR 2.335; 95% CI 1.405, 3.88; p = 0.001). Conclusion Insufficient knowledge, negative attitude, and poor practices were observed among many of our participants. Previous nutrition training was found as potential factor of good nutrition knowledge and practice. It is necessary to provide appropriate nutrition information to the adolescent athletes through proper educational intervention on a regular basis.

Background: Psychosocial research in humanitarian settings has been historically dominated by a focus on distress and disorder. As such, there is a need to establish the validity of instruments for a broad range of psychosocial outcomes, particularly among highly affected and under-represented populations. The current study describes the adaptation and testing of multiple psychosocial instruments among displaced Rohingya mothers in Bangladesh.  Methods: We used baseline data from 600 mothers of malnourished children aged 2 and under enrolled in an intervention study in Cox’s Bazar, Bangladesh. Instruments assessed distress (International Depression Symptom Scale [IDSS] and Kessler-6 [K-6]); functional impairment (World Health Organization Disability Assessment Schedule [WHODAS]); subjective wellbeing (global Satisfaction With Life [SWL] and Personal Wellbeing Index [PWI];  and, coping (Brief COPE and locally developed coping items). Instruments were piloted and refined, then used for data collection by Bangladeshi-Rohingya interviewer pairs. We conducted exploratory factor analysis, evaluated internal consistency, examined construct validity through correlation with other scales, and used regression models to explore demographic factors associated with psychosocial health.  Results: Both the WHODAS and coping items fit 2-factor models; other scales were unidimensional. Cronbach’s alphas ranged from .76 to .90 for the refined scales. With the exception of coping, scale correlations supported construct validity; separate measures of the same construct were highly correlated, distress and impairment were moderately correlated, and both were inversely correlated with wellbeing. Correlates of poorer psychosocial health included relative socioeconomic disadvantage, current pregnancy, and being unmarried.   Conclusions: Most of the standard psychosocial assessment tools performed adequately, but they did not appear to fully capture local experiences and included items of little local relevance. Findings highlight the need for further mixed methods research to develop a rich battery of instruments with cross-cultural validity, particularly for positive outcomes such as coping which was particularly challenging to assess.

Background and aims: Increasing prevalence of disability in Bangladesh indicates the need of special attention to disability care services within the healthcare setting. Our study aims to identify the level of satisfaction of clients using disability services as well as their opinions to improve those facilities. Methods:We have conducted a cross-sectional study in six disability service centers from Kurigram district of Bangladesh. We have chosen our study participants conveniently during each visit to the service centers. Using a structured questionnaire, the interview process was done. We excluded mentally impaired participants from the study. We have used descriptive analysis of data using appropriate statistical technique. Results: We have interviewed a total of 384 individuals. Respondents mean ± standard deviation (SD) age was 38.35 ± 16.01 years with a range of 12 to 65 years. Most of our participants were physically disabled (63%). Participants were found to be moderately satisfied with the service providers, but marked dissatisfaction were observed among the participants regarding available services and 61.7% participants were dissatisfied with the overall services. The service was not easily accessible reported by the respondents. Lack of physician was the most common complaint. Despite of indicating positive aspects, they recommended employing at least 1 physician for medical treatments and improving positive attitude towards disabled persons. Conclusion: Poor level of satisfaction towards overall disability services were observed in this surveyed community. Policy makers should initiate appropriate measures to ensure easy access and better quality of services based on the results and guidelines discussed in this study.

Free roaming dogs are increasing in numbers. They live in unhygienic conditions and are not vaccinated mostly. They create several problems in the community, particularly health threats to human. Dog biting is a commonly reported case in some hospitals in Bangladesh. Rabies is one of the killers of people in Bangladesh and transmission occurs mostly due the dog biting. Death commonly occurs in children due to rabies. Rabies death is completely preventable by vaccinating dogs at national level. Many steps have already been taken. Source identification of dogs, animal birth control program and proper surveillance are necessary. Sustainable implementation of programs to manage dog population, dog bite management and awareness raising among population can bring out fruitful result in this situation. Inhumane killing of dogs to reduce the number can never be a permanent solution. Vaccinating dogs is the most effective strategy suggested by experts. Therefore, it is not too late to implement action plans with regular monitoring and evaluation for the sake of human and animal health.

This study sought to identify the psychosocial factors that influence handwashing behaviour and to design behaviour change techniques applying the risk, attitude, norm, ability, and self-regulation (RANAS) behaviour change approach in Rohingya camps in Cox's Bazar, Bangladesh. This was a cross-sectional study conducted in four Rohingya camps located in Ukhiya and Teknaf sub-districts. Participants were selected by systematic random sampling. A structured interviewer-administered questionnaire was used. Analysis of variance testing (ANOVA) was used to determine the significant predicting variables. A total of 1,358 individuals participated in the interview. The mean age was 31.11 ranging from 13 to 75 years. The majority were female (84.9%). Around 75% of participants reported practising handwashing. Several psychosocial predictors were identified for handwashing behaviour with medium to large effect size such as health knowledge, beliefs about costs and benefits, feelings, social norms, abilities, and self-regulation factors. Significant predictors were additionally identified in individual camps. The behaviour change techniques included providing information, demonstration of handwashing, providing rewards, evoking emotions, and public commitments amongst others proposed in this study. Identified psychosocial determinants should be considered while promoting sustainable handwashing behaviour along with adequate supplies and infrastructure. This study also suggests to evaluate the proposed behaviour change interventions considering the contextual factors related to handwashing.